I was watching Season 5 of the West Wing last night, and it got me thinking…
So what if as a youth I had horrible credit, bad jobs, and even was convicted of stealing? Normally these things would not allow me to a government clearance of any kind. But, if I am elected to the highest office does it matter? Are elected officials subjected to the same background checks? What happens if they fail? Has it happened before?
Or if I get elected, thats it, I get all the clearence I need to do my job?
Good question. One side of me thinks that the American people would never be so stupid as to elect someone with a record like that, but then I see people like Marion Berry whe keep getting elected to various offices.
What would/should happen if someone who is an obvious security risk were to become President?
You’d get the clearance by virtue of your constitutional position. You could not fail.
Members of Congress have a similar priviledge, although the rules of each house of Congress may impose certain restrictions on members (e.g., the Speaker of the House requires that each member sign a confidentiality agreement, those who do not sign do not have access to classified information).
What mechanism would remove someone from office or prevent him (or her) from running if a security check is failed?
The constitutional requirements to hold the office of the presidency are minimal and clear, and “passing a security check” isn’t among them.
Oh, and this by the way reminds me of the anecdote (as with every anecdote, it is unknown whether it’s true or not) that Ronald Reagan, during his first visit to the Pentagon as newly-elected President, allegedly asked to show him the War Room he had seen in Dr Strangelove.
I’d also think that some of that would come up in the campaign, either for himself (to defuse it) or the opponent (to sling mud). There aren’t many skeletons in the closet after most major campaigns.
Robin
A question that’s been bothering me:
Can the President be prosecuted for revealing classified information? What would happen if the President blurted out an extremely sensitive bit of data (maybe the exact yield of some megabomb)? Would this violate any laws, or be grounds for impeachment?
The President is the classification authority. That is, it’s for the President to determine precisely what material is classified, and when it’s declassified.
I suppose the president could be prosecuted, if he acknowledged that the information he disclosed was classified, and it was his intention to disclose classified information. That conduct violates the law.
But that’s an unlikely admission, because he COULD say that he had chosen to declassify the information before releasing it… and he’s the ultimate authority for doing so.
Why is having bad credit as a youth so much worse than being a druggie in your youth? Can’t you reform from both?
I am not an expert in espionage law, but I strongly suspect that there are procedures set out in both law and regulation for classifying and declassifying information. And I also strongly doubt that any of those procedures consists merely of the President closing his eyes and deciding that something is now declassified.
The President still has to follow the law, and regulations. So, I think that legally, a President could easily be prosecuted for revealing classified information.
Politically, it would have to be a pretty dramatic and clear-cut case, of course, but the potential is there.
It would make sense that he might have that power if the authority classifying the information was his direct report. If my boss tells me to unlock the west door to my building, I have to. Why wouldn’t he have the authority to turn the key himself?
Excuse me. Not direct report.
In his chain of command. Unless the director of blah blah blah Intelligence Agendcy actually classifies information, it wouldn’t be direct report.
Classification of documents is done by executive order. Or I should say that the the authority to classify document is given by executive order. The order authorizes the CIA, NSA, etc. the authority and guidelines for those documents.
The President has the power to reverse a prior executive order. If Congress wanted the power to override such a decision, they would either have to pass a law stating so and get it signed by the President or override a (presumed) Presidential veto of that law.
In theory, the Supreme Court could stop the President. But that would probably have to wait until a President actually overrides such an order and releases information.
So in theory, the President could issue an order to give himself sole authority to classify or declassify, and start giving away info. There are guidelines, but those guidelines are given in the same executive order. I would wager that if something extremely serious got out, like the location of Congress secret nuclear war bunker, you would probably see the president impeached and removed from office.